


Prodigal Son

by SifaShep



Series: Merc!Shepard AU [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, Gen, alternative universe, merc!shepard AU, remy shepard, shepard as a merc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 09:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6324559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SifaShep/pseuds/SifaShep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A simple protection job goes wrong, almost fatally wrong for Shepard. But who is his attacker, and why did he let Shepard live?</p><p>Warning: Language. This IS Zaeed, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bullets whistled past his head. He hit his stealth cloak and carefully made his way to another position. Every muscle in his body ached–nine hours on the run drained his energy–but the adrenaline surged through him. He knew it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out.

“Caught a glimpse of him,” came the gravelly voice of Zaeed Massani. “He ain’t Human.”

“That’s reassuring. Or not.”

Zaeed scoffed, then added, “Well, it ain’t a jellyfish, either. Turian or drell, I think. Three o'clock from where you are, Shepard.”

“Still can’t see him. Where?”

“Shit, the bugger moves fast. Seven o'clock, Shepard.  I’m gonna try to take the heat off ya a bit–”

“You gonna do something stupid.”

“Somethin’ like that. Shield your eyes.”

Light exploded near him. The flashbang grenade lit up half the room and threw the other half in shadow. He scrambled to a more secure position that gave him a better vantage point. More bullets pinged off his shields. Concussion rounds hit his shoulder and buried themselves into the wall behind him.

_That’s gonna leave a bruise._ The next grenade splintered apart into fiery pieces and burned into the steel above him.

“Got the bastard!” Zaeed yelled. “He’s runnin’!”

“Stay on him!” Shepard jumped over the barricade and immediately saw their target. It was a drell, tall and lanky, his iridescent scales now charred with soot and smoke. Pretty young as well, and inexperienced, if his panicked flight was any sign.

_You don’t hire a raw rookie for a contract killing_ , Shepard thought. _That’s a good way to get yourself smeared against the wall. Damn idiot._

He climbed a ladder and shadowed the failed assassin from the second level. The drell was predictable as well; Shepard aimed his sniper rifle at the young man’s head as the Drell passed under him.

_Sorry, nothing personal, just business._

A blast slammed into his rifle and threw off his aim at the last possible second. Then a heavy weight landed on his chest. Shepard hit the floor with a pained yell as he felt a rib crack. Two hands wound around his throat and began to squeeze. He struggled against the blackness at the edges of his vision.

He lost.

*****

“Will he be all right?”

“He’s going to have to wear a neck brace for a few weeks. I’d tell him to be quiet as much as possible, but…this is Shepard we’re talking about here. No way he’ll shut up for that long.”

“I’m amazed he’s still alive. The line between choking someone unconscious and to death is–”

“Closer than anyone likes, yeah.”

“You should’ve let me go with you two, Massani.”

“It was _supposed_ to be a simple protection job. Wasn’t expecting drell hitmen. Shepard would’ve taken care of the stupid one without any problem, but the second one jumped him and nearly killed him.”

“Got an I.D. on the more experienced one?”

“Nope. Whoever it was is pretty damn good. Vanished as fast as he came. I think he was lookin’ after the stupid one, maybe even trainin’ him. I would’ve let the other one die of his mistakes. Can’t afford to take someone like that on an important job.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. Even C-Sec doesn’t do that with their rookies.”

“Yeah. And the way Shepard was attacked…why leave him alive? It would’ve been easy to just kill him and be done with it. Mind you, I’m glad he’s still breathin’…saves me from breakin’ in a new merc–”

Shepard opened his eyes and rasped, “Nice to know you care, Zaeed.”

Garrus laughed and put a careful hand on his shoulder. “Don’t talk, Shepard. You’ve been through the wringer.”

“I’ll be quiet when I’m dead, Garrus.”

Zaeed scoffed and crossed his arms. “Gonna be a while, then.”

Shepard gave him a rude gesture, which brought a wolfish grin to Zaeed’s face. “Another drell hit me?”

“Yeah, but he was gone by the time I got to you. Didn’t get a good look at him.” The casual tone masked deep rage. No one got away with hurting one of Zaeed Massani’s friends. **No one.**

Shepard nearly felt sorry for that drell assassin. Almost.

“You worry about gettin’ better. Archangel and I will take care of this one. Think of it as payback for the last one I owe you, Shepard.”

He nodded, despite the sudden feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

It turned out that Shepard’s instincts were right this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (AU Ending to Thane’s Loyalty Mission in ME2. Don’t worry, you’ll see Thane later in the story).
> 
> Shepard realizes Zaeed Massani is in dire danger.
> 
> Warning: Violent death and language

**One month later (Sahibarik System, Illium)**

Nassana Dantius paced the length of her office. She glared at the dark shuttered window and her squad of mercenaries stationed at every corner. The sunsets of Ilium marked the end of a productive day. She loved to watch the dying rays of light through her expansive viewport.  It was the simple pleasures of life that kept her going.

Today, the shutters blocked the view. A necessary precaution, but a hated one.

The crime boss reached down and touched the snub-nosed laser pistol hidden in her sleeve. Someone tore through her office building, murdered her mercs, destroyed her private property. Her security network went dark, sector by sector, until she was both deaf and blind.

Until someone opened a direct channel to her office. “Finally!” she huffed. She tapped the open comlink and shouted, “Will _someone_ tell me what’s going on down there?!”

The answer was simple, but it was delivered in the most bone-chilling tone. _“I believe your mercs aren’t able to respond, Nassana._ ”

“Dammit!” She slapped her hands on her console in frustration. The voice was male, not female. Someone hired by her sister, then. The bitch was too cowardly to do the job herself, apparently.

One of her trusted guards put a hand to her ear. “The sky car is on final approach, madam. ETA is five minutes.”

“Secure the landing pad on the roof, then. Alsara, Kir, you two clear the way. Let’s do this.” Her confident voice belied her fear that they didn’t even have five minutes. Nevertheless, the two mercs saluted and went ahead through the door.

“All clear,” came a drawl through her earpiece. “You’d better hurry, ma'am. Whoever’s after you has already crossed the bridge.”

Nassana shivered. How did they manage to get there so fast? There were so many conflicting reports: one single assassin, a group of assassins, a merc team. It didn’t matter; they weren’t going to reach her. She would find out who did this and make them pay.

Muffled thumps echoed through the ceiling. She gestured for two other mercs to cover her. She scrambled out of her control room and into a narrow stairwell. It led directly out to the roof. The landing pad overlooked the Ilium skyline and the traffic below. It was small, but open, and the lack of protection hastened her steps.

The sky car hovered over the pad, its engines ready to go. Nassana clambered in with one of her guards behind. “Go, go, go!”

The pilot stepped on the accelerator a bit too fast, and she went flying backwards into her merc. The man automatically steadied her on her feet. The chaos of her escape faded into silence.

Nassana sighed in relief. That had been close, so damn close. Her security system needed a complete overhaul. If an assassin, working alone or with others, could bypass her entire network, that was a huge problem…

She glanced down at the merc’s hand, still locked around her arm. “Thank you. You can let me go now…”

The voice echoed through his helmet speakers, and her eyes widened as she recognized it: the same one who had informed her about no one being able to help her. At that moment, she knew her fate was sealed.

“Of course, Nassana. Anything you want.”

The merc jabbed the barrel of his pistol into her abdomen and pulled the trigger. It happened so fast that she only managed a weak grunt before pain overwhelmed her. Her legs crumpled under her, but the merc caught her and laid her down on the sky car seats. Nassana’s eyes fluttered as she fought against the dark spots in her vision.

Her killer turned away from her and began to pull his helmet off his head. She caught a glimpse of red hair before Death closed her eyes forever.

*****  
The pilot lowered the darkened glass between his section and the passenger. It was a Turian; his blue eyes flickered from Nassana’s prone form to the man who made his way to the co-pilot’s seat.

“Clean and simple. Much better than what she deserved, Shepard.”

He smiled without humor. “Believe me, I know. The contract wanted her body intact, so that what I did.”

“Fulfilled right to the letter. I’m impressed. Massani's taught you well.”

“He's a good teacher. All right, Garrus, head to the rendezvous so we can turn that in and get paid.”

“You got it, Shepard.” A soft beep from the comm panel interrupted him. "Were you expecting someone to call?"

He frowned and shook his head. That rarely happened on a job; it usually meant someone had changed the terms of a contract at the last minute. Shepard hated when that happened, but it did. Certain employers tended to be more fickle than others. He couldn't think of what needed to be changed, except for the pay.

"Someone better not stiff us. Getting to Nassana was hard enough. I'm  _not_ gonna get shortchanged on this one. Who is it?"

"It's text only. Lemme bring it up." Garrus did so, and the words shone on the screen:

_I am impressed. You managed to get to her first. I underestimated you._

_I allowed you to live because I believed you the weaker of us. I will not make that mistake again._

"What the hell--?"

Garrus shook his head. "The message is untraceable. Whoever he is, he's good."

"'I allowed you to live'...Garrus, what if this is the drell that nearly killed me last month? The assassin? And we just took his kill."

"If it is, we just made a dangerous enemy, Shepard. Didn't Massani say he was looking for this guy?"

A cold feeling came over Shepard. The last he heard, Zaeed had traced some leads to Kahje, the Hanar Homeworld, then to the Citadel. If the Drell knew Zaeed was pursuing him...

"Step on it. We need to find Zaeed and warn him."

 


End file.
